Today’s guest post is written by mother of daughters and author Lynn Cowell! She has a new book out for your tween girl that we are so excited about! We think you will be too!

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Long past the point when most kids move on, I was still afraid of the dark. Would someone come up the stairs? Would they come into my bedroom as I tried to sleep? Since I couldn’t see, I didn’t know. Though I was in junior high, the bright hall light continued to stay on all night, peering down the stairs, keeping guard over me.

I wish I could go back to that fear-filled me, hold her and let her know she could be brave because she was not alone.

Did you too have a fear that wanted to linger longer? Maybe that fear is still trying its hardest to strangle courage out of you today.

Many of us have these roots of fear that settled into our hearts when we were young … and some of them just didn’t grow away. While being scared of the dark was a fear I overcame, others fears held on as I grew up. Fear of people’s approval, opinions or acceptance

I needed help from adults who wiser than myself to give me the push to move forward to overcome these deeper fears. Adults who knew the truth – what God’s word said about me – came along side me, giving me the tools to push fear out so the fearless me could grow. I began to give more time and attention to faith instead of fear and I found myself becoming brave.

Giving attention to faith instead of doubt became my line life to my finding my fearless self.

That was one reason I wanted to write my new book, Brave Beauty: Finding the Fearless You. It’s a guide for young girls right at this pivotal age - between 8 – 12 - when they move from being a child toward becoming an adult, because I think that this “tween-ager” stage can be the prime time when fear sets in.

Just as I needed someone as a young adult, to show me the tools to find my fearless self, so does that young girl in your life. And you don’t have to be fearless yourself first! You can become brave together!

Becoming brave is a bit like working out(which I do not really enjoy, by the way!) I work out because I want to be the most rockin’ grandma ever if my kids have kids one day … the one who takes her little people bike riding, hiking and rides the roller coaster with them. Who knows? Maybe I’ll even skydive again if one of them wants to!

The reality is, if I don’t work out now and don’t do what I don’t like to do, that “dream” is never going to happen. I have to do the hard stuff now if I want that to be my reality later. I have to work to become the woman I want to be.

I found the same to be true in my spiritual life. If I want to be a woman who is brave enough to talk to the cashier about Jesus or try a new volunteer role at church, I have to work out my spiritual muscles and do what I don’t want to do…the very thing I am afraid of. I have to pour God’s word into my heart to empower me to be brave and then I have to simply take that first step.

Start smiling and talking to the cashier instead of being on my phone … which I still do at times.

Say “yes” to helping new people in my community make our church their home.

Being brave isn’t a feeling; it is an action we can take, even while we are quivering!

This is what I want my kids to see … their mom going for it, even knowing that she is scared out of her pants!

So, while I wrote “Brave Beauty” for young girls, I also wrote it for us. Those of us who are still scared, little girls, wanting to be brave and find our fearless self. As we use this book, this companion guide to learning to become courageous, confident and fearless, may we soak in His truth to us and find our fearless selves as well.

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Today, Lynn is giving away a free download, An I Am Brave Printable as a daily reminder for girls of all ages to be brave. Click here to receive!

Brave Beauty helps tween girls to:

• Gain confidence by accepting her unique qualities and understand how they can work for her, not against her.
• Discover who God says she is, in His eyes, and how He can help her.
• Discuss the tough stuff she’s going through as she changes physically, emotionally, relationally and spiritually.
• Learn how God’s words can help her become brave and beautiful.

Order before August 31^st and receive these confidence-building resources:

Lynn Cowell is a Proverbs 31 speaker and the author of several books, written for young girls, teen girls and women of all ages. Her newest book Brave Beauty: Finding the Fearless You is written for girls ages 8 -12. Make Your Move: Finding Unshakeable Confidence Despite Your Fears and Failures a Bible study for women releases this fall. Lynn calls home North Carolina, where she and her husband, Greg and the occasional backyard deer are adjusting to life as empty nesters.

© 2017 by Lynn Cowell. All rights reserved.